HANG TIME WEST – It was the first two rounds of the playoffs all over again, with the Warriors a blur of action, unpredictability and unspoken statements about the future, only this time with enough crowd noise to blow the lid off more than Oracle Arena. Try the entire Western Conference.

Golden State was going hard after Dwight Howard, weighing trade options, digging for cap space in a final push Friday before his planned decision, planned being the operative word with any Howard expedition. And then: Andre Iguodala.

Brilliant. Better than coming away with Howard, the glitzy result but one that would have reduced the Stephen Curry impact and threatened team chemistry while potentially costing additional players in a sign-and-trade.

Trading Brandon Rush, Richard Jefferson, Andris Biedrins and first-round picks in 2014 and 2017 to the Jazz for Kevin Murphy to clear the cap room to sign Iguodala could become the no-look pass of the 2013-14 season.

The Warriors are coming off a trip to the second round despite injury and inexperience and just added a versatile veteran who makes them better on both sides of the ball. Without costing them anyone from the rotation. And saving about $11 million in salary next season.

The loss statement is misleading – they also had to renounce Jarrett Jack, a major contributor off the bench, and Rush would have had a prominent role if not for tearing two ligaments in the left knee in his second and last game. But still. The Warriors were considering high-risk moves of dealing Andrew Bogut and KlayThompson or Harrison Barnes, among others, if that’s what it took to land the finicky Howard in a sign-and-trade and instead got a lot better while barely touching the core of a roster that pushed for the Western Conference final without coming close to its potential.

They got better.

The Nuggets, one of the teams that finished ahead of Golden State, got worse by losing Iguodala without compensation.

The Jazz, one of the teams that finished close behind, won’t get better off this deal for at least one season and maybe two.

It probably means a move to the bench for Barnes, impressive showing by a rookie in the playoffs or not, but he should be as visible on the wing as shooting guard Thompson and Iguodala as the successor at small forward. With Iguodala’s versatility, especially as a standout defender, the three could play together.

The Warriors need to find a reserve point guard and a backup center with Festus Ezeli expected to be out until approximately midseason after knee surgery, but David Lee, Curry, Bogut, Iguodala, Thompson and Barnes is a very good first six. Getting Iguodala, while also hitting the Nuggets hard, is another step forward.

The Warriors have agreed to terms on a three-year deal with big man Marreese Speights, a source tells Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports (Twitter links). The final year of the deal is a club option, tweets Sam Amick of USA Today. Marc Stein of ESPN.com (via Twitter) first reported that a deal was close. The guy is 6’10” and 245….great replacement for Landry.

GSW has a strong starting five accross the board. I think Iggy should start at SF and bring all that unselfish versatility along with Steph’s and Klay’s long range shooting and Bogut’s and Lee’s inside presence.

This starting five is probably the most balanced in the league. Now it’s just up to the players to work together and step up when needed…very excited for this Warriors team!

Warriors need a backup center….Jermaine O’Neal comes to mind. Love the Iggy deal…Warriors can go small ball with Bogut, Barnes (4), Iggy (3), plus Klay and Steph and run opponents off the court. In fact, I see that as the starting 5.

Iggy will be starting over Thompson, the way I see it. I’m not saying Barnes is better, in fact I see them pretty equal as of now. However, people tend to forget Iggy’s natural position is at SG due to his great length and size, and I feel like that is the deciding factor on Barnes starting rather than Thompson. (And no we are not getting Landry or Jack next season, we had to renounce them in order to get Iggy, plus they both have already signed elsewhere.)

NO NO NO….iggy is overated i would rather keep jack and let barnes be the starter and for 8 millions they coulda had josh smith instead and would garantee them being contenders….the team did not upgrade they stayed the same jack was a great piece

Why do we need a backup center? When Bogut is on the bench, we can move Lee to center, move Barnes to PF. At point – thought we were going to give Bazemore a chance? We also could give our draft pick a chance to be our backup.

I think Barnes comes of the bench, but the Dubs will put a small lineup in a lot and Barnes will get plenty off opportunities. Losing Jack hurts, but his contribution is replaced by Iggy. Think about it. Iggy can handle the ball well, slash, make things happen, and score if need be. Jack does all of the same things without the rebounding, defense and size that Iggy brings. The one that hurts is losing Landry. We need to find a backup big man. But overall, a great day to be a Dubs fan.

The loss of Jack and landry will affect them but they should be fine with guards like Will Bynum and Devin Harris and big men like Samuel Dalembert and Chris Kaman available. All those players they should be able to afford and will fit well on thier team maybe even Eric Maynor or Mo Williams will sign for cheap

I agree with signing Kaman. He would be a good fit for the Warriors. I still think that the Warriors should Seth Curry and have the Curry brothers play together. Although, even if they signed Seth, they would still need to find a backup PG for next year who fit the role better. Losing Jack is unfortunate, but signing Iggy lightens the loss.

This the way I c it…
PG- Stephen Curry
SG- Klay Thompson
SF* IGGY
PF- David Lee
C- Andrew Bogut
I don’t want Harrison Barnes coming of the bench because the guy is a monster. But 48 million???… the guys there for a reason

The Warriors are the team to watch.
Everybody’s favorite for a jump is now the Rockets, but getting Howard and losing Asik… we’ll see if things will work out as hoped.
Howard’s personality might be a drawback. Howard always makes teammates feel unhappy.

right now, they are conteders on the west! Iggy is a lockdown defender, while curry and thompson are 3-point snipers. With Bogut on the C – he doesnt need many shots like howard, he do everything – asists, blocks, rebounds, take charges and have better basketball IQ

this is as good a pick up for the warriors as anything. i see it as
pg-Steph
sg-Klay
sf-Barnes
pf-David Lee
C- Bogut
6M- Iggy
He could play that back up point gaurd or shooting gaurd or small forward role he could be a sixth man like Ginobli was. Then you got Festus Ezeli, Kent Bazemore and Draymond Green coming off the bench too. Im serious Iggy in a sixth man position would be astounding especially if they could add another pf to come of with him

I am a Lakers fan first, Warriors fan second, but Dwight leaving doesn’t mean as much to me as this. This is an awesome pick up for Golden State. Curry, Thompson and now Igoudala, RUN TMC version 2 (better name to come, hahaha). Wish them all the best next season.

Acquiring Iguodala is a good thing for this team. Jarrett Jack however, deserves to start, not be on the bench. I think he will land with another team, maybe a younger team, where he can be a starter and grow. Best wishes to him.

Iguadala is a much better addition to the team than Dwight Howard, who has behaved like a petulant child for many years. May be he will mature in Houston, but the Warriors are better off with a player like Iggy.

I don’t think Landry will re-sign with Golden State. I’m not saying he won’t, I just think he is going to look to play for a championship team(I don’t think the Warriors are there yet). I’m guessing he will sign with either the Lakers, Clippers, or maybe he follows Dwight to the Rockets. But as far as the Warriors go, they have a very good roster. I believe the starting line-up will be;

No worries “Dosh”, you didn’t “burst my bubble”. I thought the Warriors would try to trade Jefferson or Beidrins to free up cap space to re-sign Jack, but I knew that Landry was as good as gone. I still think that the Warriors will have a good playoff run now that they have Igoudala.